Racism is all around us. From the recent police shootings and arrests at protests to the rise of pro-white groups, this is a scary, tense time for all of us. While some in the fashion industry feel insulated from it, others, like model Ebonee Davis, see an industry that's equally unjust as the rest of the world. The star of Calvin Klein's fall 2016 campaign wrote an essay on the topic calling out the lack of diversity and what it means.

"I thought back to how hard I had tried to assimilate into the fashion industry—straightening my hair, wearing weaves and extensions," she wrote. "I was told that brands only booked black girls if they looked like they'd been 'plucked from a remote village in Africa' or like a 'white model dipped in chocolate,' and from the start of my career in 2011, I lived by those words."

Davis linked the lack of equity (less than 10 percent of the models cast last season at New York fashion week were black, according to the Fashion Spot) to the police shootings currently in the news. "Systemic racism began with slavery and has woven itself into the fabric of our culture, manifesting through police brutality, poverty, lack of education, and black incarceration. The most dangerous contributors? Advertising, beauty, and fashion," she wrote.

In her essay, Davis pleaded with makeup artists to change their methods, techniques, and products. Davis pointed out that many makeup artists lack training in working with nonwhite skin, a problem many models of color have to deal with. Model Leomie Anderson voiced a similar complaint earlier this year when she tweeted, "Of course I get given to the makeup artist who had ONE brown foundation she was trying to mix with white on a sly because she's not equipped." Last year, BuzzFeed was called out for using a completely wrong foundation color on a black model in one of their contouring videos.

Davis isn't the only black woman speaking up. Gabourey Sidibe was pretty candid about what she has to deal with being a black actress in Hollywood.

"As a black actress, I have a few social media accounts and every single day I deal with racist comments," she told People magazine. "What I realized [was] the only difference between the world that I live in and the world my mom grew up in—my mother was born in 1952—is that we have cell phones. We have cell phones and we have documented proof that there's no real difference."

More and more people are trying to take fashion to task for its silence, for its appropriation. Fashion blogger Hannah Stoudemire organized a Black Lives Matter protest yesterday at New York men's fashion week. She told Fashionista, "I just want the fashion industry and people in general—the majority of the people represented here today—to acknowledge us."

For both Davis and Sidibe, speaking up is definitely part of the solution. "I have to say, I am just so proud to know all of these people that are standing up—not just black people, but white people, anyone who has a heart really," the Empire actress said.

Davis echoed this idea in her essay: "My advice to models, fashion designers and public relation agencies: Use your personal platforms to speak out against injustice and show your support rather than standing by in silence. Most importantly, love black people as much as you love black music and black culture."